JACKSON — As families in Jackson and around New Jersey prepare to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 24, many people are still feeling the sting of unemployment and may be wondering where their holiday meal will come from.
The Jackson Women of Today, which operates the Jackson food pantry, will try to help those individuals, but the food pantry could use some help itself.
According to Jackson Women of Today member Suzanne Rogalsky, the food pantry has seen a significant increase in the number of families seeking assistance and a decrease in the amount of food it has on hand to distribute.
“We have a very low food supply this year. We had 600 bags of food from the Boy Scouts [in October] that was all given away because we had 30 new families come to us,” Rogalsky said. “The last week in October was also when we had our distribution [of the food]. It was also when I realized we were simply not going to have enough food for November and December.”
The food pantry has about 175 families who have registered for assistance. About 135 of those families received assistance in October. In October 2010, about 105 families received food.
“We have seen a really big rise in the amount of people who need food, whether they lost their jobs or they can’t make ends meet. For some of these people, this [food from the pantry] is all the food they get for the month,” she said.
At the present time, the pantry’s operators are hoping to receive donations from the community of turkeys, hams and other foods related to the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
Monetary donations are also accepted, Rogalsky said. The pantry’s operators use the cash donations to purchase food that is then distributed to the pantry’s clients.
“We are grateful to the community for their support and to the [FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties] because we buy our food at a very, very reduced rate,” Rogalsky said. “There are businesses and groups that are doing food drives for us, and we really appreciate it, but we need to keep going.”
Alist of items needed by the food pantry can be found at the Internet website www.jacksonfoodpantry.com.
Individuals who are interested in finding out how to donate food or cash, or who want to volunteer for the Jackson Women of Today and the food pantry, may call 732- 833-6800.